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Appeared on: Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Amazon to Develop Own Comedy and Children's Series

Amazon.com Inc unveiled a plan to develop original comedy and children's TV shows to distribute over the company's video streaming service.

Amazon has been spending in recent quarters to add movies and TV shows to its video streaming business. The company is now also focusing in the creation of original TV shows.

Amazon is inviting content creators to upload their proposals for comedy and children's programming to Amazon Studios at http://studios.amazon.com/getting-started/series. The best comedy and children's series will be distributed through Amazon Instant Video, Amazon's digital video streaming service.

"Amazon Studios wants to discover great talent and produce programming that audiences will love," said Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios. "In the course of developing movies, we've heard a lot of interest from content creators who want to develop original series in the comedy and children's genres. We are excited to bring writers, animators and directors this new opportunity to develop original series."

Each month, Amazon Studios intends to option one new project and add it to the development slate where it will be tested for viability with an audience. If Amazon Studios elects to distribute a full-budget series, the creator will receive a $55,000 payment, up to 5 percent of Amazon's net receipts from toy and t-shirt licensing, and other royalties and bonuses.

To submit, a project must have a five-page description, along with a 22-minute pilot script for comedies, or an 11-minute pilot script for children?s shows, the company said. Within 45 days of submission, Amazon Studios will either extend an option on the project for $10,000 or invite the creator to add the project to the Amazon Studios site. If a project is not optioned, creators may remove their idea from the Amazon Studios site or leave it to get community feedback.

Amazon Studios new series development is led by Joe Lewis, previously with 20th Century Fox and Comedy Central, and Tara Sorensen, formerly with National Geographic Kids.